“Do not envy one another; do not inflate prices one to another; do
not hate one another; do not turn away from one another, and do not
undercut one another; but be you, O servants of Allah, brothers. A
Muslim is the brother of a Muslim; he neither oppresses him nor does he
fail him, he neither lies to him nor does he hold him in contempt. Piety
is right here - and he pointed to his breast three times. It is evil
enough for a man to hold his brother Muslim in contempt. The whole of a
Muslim for another Muslim is inviolable: his blood, his property, and
his honour.”_
It was reported by Muslim_.
 |
| THE MAKKAN CONFERENCE |
Travel broadens
your horizons, it is said. One of the things I learned in Makkah in the
Muslim World League (MWL) conference is the immaculate organisation of
the event. Car hire and taxi companies within the _King Abdulaziz
International Airport_ were aware of the special airport shuttle
vehicles designated for the conference attendees. Whoever, upon arrival
in Jeddah airport, approached any car hire company for transport to the
venue they were directed to the conference desk where they were conveyed
to the _Hilton Convention_, the venue, for registration and
accommodation. By this transfer arrangement, the possibility of any
participant going to the wrong place was virtually eliminated. Attempt
implementing this system in another country and see what the car hire
and taxi companies would do when the guests arrive at the airport.
Manipulation.
During check-in formalities at the Hilton, MWL
officials in charge of accommodation taught me another lesson, even
though, as a travel agent, it is my job to facilitate such logistics for
hundreds of pilgrims in Umrah and Hajj seasons. What we do in my
company, for instance, is to check in everybody and have their keys
ready before their arrival at the airport. But the MWL team had the keys
of all the rooms assigned for the conference at the registration desk
where each participant registered and got the key to their rooms without
going through the check-in process with the front office of the hotel.
No forms filled; no questions asked as details of everybody had already
been captured for the visa application. Superb! What conferences of this
nature do elsewhere is for a participant to register with the arrival
desk and then fill in their details with the reception before getting a
room. We keep learning…
The conference materials were another
display in a spectacle. Papers were printed and bound in different
colours according to the time of delivery. About twenty papers were
presented in all, and spread during the morning, afternoon and evening
sessions, spanning the duration of the conference. All papers delivered
during the morning session of the first day of the conference, for
instance, were available at the entrance of the hall hours before the
arrival of participants, with the cover, as well as the back-pages,
printed in yellow, for example, and bound. Those of the afternoon and
evening sessions were in different colours, say, green and blue
respectively. This printing and binding of papers in diverse hues made a
lot of sense. Participants had all and were able to know exactly what
papers were presented when, though many were they, and at what session.
It was not what I am familiar with of the aleatory chaos of photocopying
papers, during the presentation, on machines that have run out of
cartridges and thus the end product is scarcely legible.
The
above epigraph, in the form of the _Hadeeth_ reported by Muslim,
encapsulates the aim of the MWL conference - embracing the middle course
in all matters and respecting the etiquette of dialogue when we differ
in anything among ourselves.
As I mentioned last week in my
first piece on the MWL conference, I will dedicate two to three
articles, in a feeble attempt to give a summary of the proceedings in
Makkah; needless to say that all papers were written and presented in
Arabic, but the simultaneous translation of proceedings was available
via headphones.
Taking the middle course, as averred by many
scholars that addressed the topic here, is the alternative to
extremities. Allah enjoined His Messenger, sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam
to ‘seek a middle course’ when he prays - neither ‘loud-voiced…nor yet
silent…’ (Al-Israa 17:110); also, Allah praised ‘those who, when they
spend’ out of what He has bestowed upon them, ‘are neither prodigal nor
grudging’; they ‘are not extravagant and not niggardly, but hold a just
(balance) between those (extremes);’ (Al-Furqaan 25:67).
In the
Sunnah, in a Hadeeth reported by Abu Dawud and Al-Bukhary in al-Adabil
Mufrad, on the authority of Abi Musa al-Ash’ary, may Allah be pleased
with him, who said that the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu alaihi wa
sallam said those who revere Allah would ‘respect the aged, and a
_haafizul Qur’an_ who neither goes to the extreme in the rendition of
its letters, nor turns away from the Qur’an after memorising it ….’
Therefore, the scholars averred that the middle course in _Aqeedah_ is
to make religion pure for Allah only in His Divinity, Worship, Names and
Attributes. _Suratul Fatihah_ embodies this _tauheed_ as the faithful
declare praise to their Maker Whom they worship and seek His help. The
Qur’an is replete with verses depicting the middle course in Aqeedah,
establishing Allah’s Names and Attributes, without negating any as ‘the
most beautiful names belong to Him (Al-A’raaf, 7:180); and avoiding
anthropomorphic concepts, since ‘there is nothing whatever like unto
Him’ (As-Shuraa, 42:11). It also affirms the Singleness of Allah in
worship (Al-Israa, 17:23); that His Divinity, in relation to His
bondsmen, is not compatible with seeking for succour from any other
than Him, being in awe except for Him, and hoping for anything except it
be from Him (Yunus, 10:106-107).
The middle course in ‘_ibaadah_
is for believers to offer devotions based on genuine aqeedah since
infidelity negates recompense (an-Nisaa,4:124). Righteousness must be
textually supported by the _Kitaab_ and _Sunnah_ as adherence to any
_deen_, except Islam, would be rejected (Aali Imraan,3:85). The Prophet,
sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam, said: ‘He who does an act which our
matter is not (in agreement) with will have it rejected.’
After
satisfying the above conditions, acts of devotions, moreover, must be
done seeking Allah’s countenance only (az-Zumar, 39:3), in as much as
Allah said، as reported by Muslim, that He is the Most Self-Sufficient
of associates that people impute falsely to Him. Whoever does an act of
worship in order to impress any other than Allah, he will have such
devotion discarded by Allah, leaving it to him and those he desires to
impress.
Lastly, on the middle course in devotions, spiritual
exertion should be offered consistently even where we deem it a trifle.
What is important is not the quantity of, but how consistent is the
worship. No weariness touches Allah when He rewards us for exerting our
utmost in His service. Thus, He loves what is most persistent of our
worship even where it is little; He is not tired until we are tired of
serving Him (as reported by Malik in his Muwatta’, and an-Nasaa’i and
others).
Date Published: Friday, December 21st, 2018
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